Through Your Eyes
by bitternessbitesback
Summary: It was always odd seeing the world through her eyes, and yet Tōshirō still found himself looking forward to falling asleep every night. (Soulmate AU)


Ever since he was a young boy, Tōshirō had very strange dreams. He couldn't always remember exactly what happened in said dreams, but he did remember the feeling of being somebody else. It wasn't till he was around four years old he realized he wasn't a boy in those dreams. Naturally anyone would be curious as to what that meant so he talked to his mother about it, and needless to say the word excited didn't quite sum up the expression that quickly overtook her features. She informed him very enthusiastically about soulmates, that when asleep one could see life through the other's eyes. She also briefly explained how it worked better for soulmates in different time zones, but fate isn't always so kind. Soulmates aren't always of differing genders or even romantic. Your soulmate could just be a best friend, especially since the odds of finding your soulmate were slim to none. Tōshirō listened to his mother very patiently and wondered why soulmates were even a thing when there wasn't a guarantee you would find them? He also didn't feel he needed a soulmate and told his mother as such. She laughed at him while ruffling his hair and sent him off to school, telling him they would talk more later. Unfortunately their talk never came seeing as his mother died after getting into a car crash and the semi driver hadn't quite slowed down fast enough. Upon her untimely death Tōshirō was sent to live with his aunt and her daughter, Momo Hinamori. His dad was having fun living a life somewhere else off with one of his new arm pieces, wanting nothing to do with his son. He didn't even show up for the funeral, and after 19 years has made no effort to contact Tōshirō in any way. He didn't care anyway since he too wanted nothing to do with his scumbag of a father.

After his mother's passing however, Tōshirō suddenly wasn't so against the idea of soulmates. At least in his dreams he could live vicariously through the girl he'd never met and watch her interact with her rambunctious family. It was still odd however seeing things from another person's perspective. He quickly learned things about her, and would often times write them down in a "dream journal" so as not to forget anything. After all these years however he didn't know her name, didn't really know her families name's either. He knew she had one older brother, a twin sister, and an easily excitable father. Her mom died only a year after his did, that would at least give them something to talk about he thought sardonically before thinking about _if_ they ever met. It probably wouldn't happen seeing as she appeared to live in Japan while he lives in England. Apart from their dead mothers the only other thing they seemed to have in common was their love of soccer (fútbol). In his dreams she was almost always practicing it or playing matches with her friends. He didn't have any friends other than Momo and this older girl Rukia he went to school with, but that was it. His soulmate seemed to have a lot of friends, or a lot in comparison to him.

When Tōshirō was eleven Rukia had left to study abroad, claiming there was nothing keeping her in England. Like him, Rukia had no parents and had only just met her sister and brother-in-law a year prior. Rukia and her new family weren't exactly close yet, and she informed Tōshirō that she felt something calling her to the other side of the world. She told him she would write, and she did, but she wasn't planning on coming back. He had lost hope of ever seeing her again before she snuck her way into one of his dreams two years later, walking in with Tōshirō's soulmate's brother. Had he remembered the next morning he surely would've written her about it, unfortunately he just felt like he was missing something. Even going through his dream journals didn't help, memories were finicky things, especially when fate just wanted to have a little fun.

So here he was, 19 years after his mother's death, standing awkwardly above her gravestone. Now at the ripe age of 23 he wasn't quite sure what to tell her, especially when he knew that more likely than not she wasn't listening to him. Hell! She probably didn't even exist anymore, just vanished along with everybody else off to god know's where when they died. Nevertheless he was still here, trying to find something to tell her. So he told her about the first thing that came to mind, his soulmate. He told her about how he had no intention of ever finding his soulmate, but was slightly thankful he had one anyway. He told his mother all about how the mysterious woman unknowingly helped him all these years. He also told her about where he had been, you see Tōshirō had joined the military a few years back and was steadily climbing the ranks. He also apologized to his mother, using the military as his excuse for not being able to visit in the past few yeas. Though at his age she should really be quite proud since he was well on his way to becoming a Captain. He was really very excited to recruit people, as well as manage other soldiers. He told her that it was basically like being a business manager but more fun. Although he wasn't a fan of war and hoped nothing ever happened, he informed his mother that he would still like to provide help to his country. For now though he was just another soldier on the field learning to fight just in case.

Time went by for Tōshirō much faster than he'd previously assumed and left his mother's grave, promising to visit again soon. Whilst walking home he thought about his soulmate, wondering what she would be up to when she woke up. She helped her father as a nurse, but from what Tōshirō could remember she was planning on leaving although he couldn't remember where. He knew she recently got a new job that payed a large sum and would help her family out a lot more than their little hospital did. Her sister helped out around the hospital too, he wondered how she could do so much since he also knew she cooked for the family and cut their hair. Though it makes sense she would take on the maternal role where as his soulmate seemed to just do as little as she possibly could that would worry her family. In all the years of his dreams, only once had he remembered her crying. Shaking those thoughts out of his head, Tōshirō continued to his flat, only stopping to pick up groceries. As soon as he was home he put his groceries away and called up Momo. She often insisted on checking up on him, and while it was sweet she also needed to learn to let go in his opinion. After that he made dinner, watched a movie he'd been meaning to for a while, and got ready for bed. He briefly pondered what his soulmate saw when she was asleep. Did she remember what happened when she woke? Or only certain parts like he did? Does she know he kept a journal? Does him staying up to ponder these things prevent her from waking up on time? Was it because he was pondering these things that he was giving her time to wake up? He sighed, knowing he would never get the answers he wanted. It was always odd seeing the world through her eyes, yet here he was night after night looking forward to falling asleep. With one last check to make sure his alarm was on, he fell into a peaceful slumber.

The light from the sun had woken her up, much like it always did. She never closed her blinds properly, whether it was because she didn't know or it was because she secretly liked waking up like that Tōshirō has no clue. The world was a little blurry before she blinked it into focus and he could faintly hear birds chirping outside. She checked her phone and groaned upon seeing the time, 6 AM... on a Saturday. Regardless of the time she got up and went for a jog which Tōshirō loved. He loved seeing her town and the place she lived, even if he didn't know exactly where she was it still brought him joy. He thought he would be able to guess where she lived when he was younger but it proved no success and now he simply took in her surrounding environment, enjoying the view. She finished her jog rather quickly and took a shower, it was lucky for the both of them that he never remembered those parts by time morning came. In fact all Tōshirō really remembered was jumps in time from different parts of the day, usually the one's that are most important. For example, what he would remember from this dream when he wakes up will be her birthday. She is turning 23 today, so she seemed a little more excited than usual. She put in a smidge more effort than she would normally, pulling her hair up into two buns. Every year both her and her sister would match hairstyles, considering his soulmate didn't want to match anymore than that. Just because they were twins didn't mean they had to dress the same like many people wanted the to when they were younger.

The woman paused to look at her reflection, making sure everything was in place, and ran her hands down her shirt to smooth it out. Next thing Tōshirō knew, they were at her old house and she knocked lightly on the door. In her hands was a present for her sister, from what he could remember it was a new yukata that her sister had been apparently wanting for a while. Usually on their birthdays the girls would go on a sister date before celebrating with the family and it seemed that tradition still rang true as her sister yanked open the door and pulled his soulmate into a bone crushing hug. She had stayed with their father at home to look after him whilst Tōshirō's soulmate moved out. It was then that her twin said her name and he really tried to keep it in his mind but it was futile, just like every other time he would forget it by time morning came. After their sister date the two girls went back home, and celebrated joyously with their family. Tōshirō has always been jealous of his soulmate, but he couldn't really blame her for having a more loving family. Sure he had Momo, but he wanted more like the spoiled brat he was. It was then that a familiar woman caught his attention in his soulmate's peripheral vision, sadly he was woken up by his alarm, the last thing he remembered was being on a plane. Maybe she was traveling somewhere? Well duh, he thought. What other reason would she have to be on a plane. With that Tōshirō got up and ready for the day, the familiar feeling leaving his body.

The next few days passed in a blur, went to boot camp and trained with his squad, came home, and had dreams about the woman he's never met. She seemed to be in a new place and it seemed very familiar, but it didn't bother him too much. There were multiple places in the world that would probably feel familiar to him, it didn't matter that she lived somewhere else now. She also had a new job, she seemed to work within the military like he did, though she is still a nurse. It wasn't until the end of the week that all of these new things seemed to matter when he ran into a black haired woman whilst getting groceries. He helped her up when his apology got stuck in his throat. Here she was, his soulmate, right in front of him. Tōshirō could feel the world beneath him shift upon this revelation. The planets aligned, diseases were cured, wars ended, and the world was at peace. His icy blue eyes met her steel grey eyes and suddenly the world started turning again. He was out of breath and from the looks of it so was she, however she was the first to say something.

"Hello," She greeted, sending him a million dollar smile, "I'm Karin."

"Hi," He returned, looking dreamily into her eyes, "I'm Tōshirō."


End file.
